The Wrath of Superstorm Sandy

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In late October 2012, a massive storm brought significant wind and Flooding damage to Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, The Bahamas, and the U.S. Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states. Flash flooding generated by the storm’s relentless rainfall, high winds, and coastal storm surges killed more than 200 people and produced widespread property damage to the areas in its path. The storm swept through the Caribbean as a tropical cyclone (hurricane), and upon reaching the waters off the coast of New Jersey, it merged with a fast southeastward-moving cold air mass, which drew it westward over land. At its greatest extent, the storm measured more than 1,450 km (900 mi) in diameter. The storm was considered to be among the most costly natural disasters in U.S. history, with damages estimated in the tens of billions of dollars.

Remnants of post-tropical cyclone SandyA satellite image of Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy taken on November 1, 2012, showed remnant clouds from the storm lingering over parts of eastern North America. NASA—NOAA/GOES Project

Origin and Development of the Hurricane.

Hurricane Sandy began as a tropical wave (a trough of low pressure) in the warm ocean waters of the central part of the tropical North Atlantic on October 19. The system traveled westward into the Caribbean Sea during the next few days, and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami classified it as a tropical depression on October 22 in the waters south of Jamaica. Absorbing energy as it moved northward, the depression grew into a tropical storm, and the NHC renamed the system Sandy.

the track of Superstorm SandySuperstorm Sandy began as a hurricane that formed in the Caribbean Sea. After merging with a cold air mass near the East Coast of the U.S., the storm's damaging winds, rain, and storm surge devastated parts of the shoreline of New Jersey, New York, and parts of nearby states.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

On October 24, with sustained 130-km/hr (about 80-mph) winds, Sandy became a category 1 hurricane in the waters just south of Jamaica. After its maximum sustained winds increased to more than 144 km/hr (about 90 mph) during the late evening, NHC officials reclassified the storm as a category 2 hurricane. Shortly after midnight on October 25, Sandy’s winds rose to 177 km/hr (110 mph), and by dawn the eye had passed over eastern parts of Jamaica and Cuba.

Between October 25 and October 28, Sandy continued northward but declined in intensity, and it was reclassified as a category 1 hurricane and later as a tropical storm; after passing over The Bahamas and paralleling the coastline of the southeastern United States, the storm had again grown into a category 1 hurricane. On October 29 the storm curved westward toward the Mid-Atlantic states, and by 8:00 pm it had made landfall near Atlantic City, N.J., with maximum sustained winds of 130 km/hr.

Origin and Development of the Superstorm.

Sandy was drawn westward by an unusual bend in the jet stream caused by the negative mode of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). When the NAO is in its positive mode, tropical cyclones and their remnants are caught up in the predominantly eastward flow of the jet stream and quickly thrust out over the cold water of the North Atlantic, where they dissipate. In the NAO’s negative mode, however, the jet stream bends northward over eastern North America. This change results from the presence of a strong high-pressure cell, called a blocking high, that stagnates over Greenland, and any eastward movement of storms behind the blocking high slows substantially.

As the cold air mass—whose leading edge contained a small low-pressure centre—approached the hurricane’s warmer counterclockwise wind field on October 29, winds circulating around the low-pressure centres of the cold air mass and of Hurricane Sandy began to mix. This interaction pulled part of the cold air mass to the south of the hurricane and turned the jet steam separating the two systems westward, which subsequently drew Hurricane Sandy sharply toward the New Jersey coast. On October 29, after the cold air had wrapped around and mixed with the warm air of the hurricane, both systems merged. This development effectively transformed the hurricane into a sprawling extratropical cyclone, which was renamed Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy by the NHC but was referred to as Superstorm Sandy by meteorologists and newscasters.

Damage.

The number of deaths linked to Hurricane Sandy, and its later evolution into Superstorm Sandy, climbed to more than 200 a few weeks after the disaster, with approximately 80 deaths reported in the Caribbean region and at least 125 in the continental United States. Hurricane Sandy was responsible for approximately 60 deaths in Haiti, 11 deaths in Cuba, and 2 deaths each in The Bahamas, Canada, and the Dominican Republic, and 1 death each was recorded in Jamaica and Puerto Rico. The high winds and torrential rains that buffeted parts of southern Haiti also destroyed crops and blew away or washed away thousands of tents and temporary structures that were being used to house refugees from the Haiti earthquake of 2010. The hurricane left an estimated 200,000 people without shelter.

Superstorm Sandy aftermath: boardwalk of Seaside Heights, N.J.The winds and storm surge of Superstorm Sandy destroyed part of the boardwalk at Seaside Heights, N.J., where a roller coaster was engulfed by the water. The storm made landfall near the town on Oct. 29, 2012.Mike Groll/AP

The bulk of storm-related deaths, injuries, and property damage, however, occurred in the U.S. An estimated 8.5 million people lost electrical service as a result of the storm. Several cities and towns along the Atlantic coast of New Jersey and New York were devastated, and the storm surge was made worse by high tides amplified by the full moon that occurred on October 29. Air, rail, and road transportation ground to a halt, with more than 20,000 flights canceled. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, property damage was estimated at between $30 billion and $50 billion.

In New York City a storm surge measuring nearly 4.3 m (14 ft) combined with heavy rains to cause the Hudson River, New York Harbor, and the East River to flood the streets and tunnels of Lower Manhattan. Parts of subway lines were inundated along with the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. Flooding and power outages nearby forced the closure of the New York Stock Exchange, the longest weather-related closure of the “big board” since 1888.

Along the coastline of New Jersey, damage was extensive. Part of Atlantic City’s world-famous Boardwalk was destroyed, and many of the city’s homes and businesses that were not protected by seawalls were also heavily damaged or destroyed by the storm surge. The boardwalks of Seaside Heights and Belmar were also destroyed, along with many coastal developments along New Jersey’s shoreline. During the storm, water from the Hudson River overtopped the seawall protecting Hoboken and flooded much of the city, isolating an estimated 20,000 residents in their homes.

The effects of Superstorm Sandy were felt throughout the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic states. Rainfall records were broken throughout the affected area, and roughly 1 m (3.3 ft) of snow fell in mountainous parts of West Virginia, eastern Tennessee, and western Maryland. Wind and rain disrupted electricity service from parts of Quebec to North Carolina and as far west as Indiana and Illinois.

Power outages and recovery efforts lasted weeks after the storm moved out of the Mid-Atlantic region. On November 7 a powerful nor’easter blanketed part of the northeastern U.S. with snow, including several areas, such as New York City, that were affected by Sandy. The snow exacerbated the need for repairs to the power grid and slowed the movement of materials and repair crews to areas in need. Some two weeks after Sandy made landfall, the number of people still without power in New York, New Jersey, and West Virginia combined still exceeded 160,000, and the electrical and communication lines inside New York City’s Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, which had been pumped free of water, were still in need of substantial repairs.